Monday, August 4, 2014

Musings: Farming Rights

In perusing the Sunday New York Times,
I noticed that Missouri voters are being asked to decide whether to
add a “right to farm” amendment to their state's Constitution.

Proponents apparently believe it will
stave off laws that dictate how livestock and crops are raised in the
state, which has some 100,000 farms. They seem to be unaware of the
fight under way in Hawaii, where anti-GMO activists are challenging
seed companies and farmers, despite the “right to farm” statute
in state law.

165-4 Right to farm. No court,
official, public servant, or public employee shall declare any
farming operation a nuisance for any reason if the farming operation
has been conducted in a manner consistent with generally accepted
agricultural and management practices. There shall be a rebuttable
presumption that a farming operation does not constitute a nuisance.

The proposed Missouri amendment reads:

That agriculture which provides food,
energy, health benefits, and security is the foundation and
stabilizing force of Missouri's economy. To protect this vital sector
of Missouri's economy, the right of farmers and ranchers to engage in
farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this
state, subject to duly authorized powers, if any, conferred by
article VI of the Constitution of Missouri.

As the Times reports, it's sparked an
emotional debate in Missouri, home of Monsanto, where it's pitting
people — including farmers — against one another and attracting
big money on both sides. One of the primary opponents is the Humane
Society of the United States, which previously supported strict
regulations on the state's horrid puppy mills. The amendment is
partly in response to what some farmers consider “meddling by
outsiders,” though it's hard to see how puppy mills could be
considered “farming.”

The Times quoted Blake Hurst, the president
of the Missouri Farm Bureau:

“When you look across the country,
you see a lot of ballot initiatives that are making decisions about
how farmers can farm,” Mr. Hurst said. The proposed amendment
“doesn’t change regulations we have now, and it can’t possibly
change federal law. We’re trying to stop ballot initiatives that
limit farmers’ ability to use technology.”

As I read the article, and reflected on
how communities like Kauai have been torn apart by the issue, I was
reminded again that we need to be having a thoughtful, reasoned,
national debate on food in this country, one that addresses humane treatment of livestock and environmental and human health, while
also considering consumer demand for cheap, abundant food and the
realities of farming today.

But we're not having that discussion.
Instead, we're embroiled in emotional, often fear-based conflicts
that at best take a piece meal approach to a complex issue while
ensuring that lawyers have plenty of work in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, the Small Business
Regulatory Review Board has completed its required review of the
proposed rules for Ordinance 960 — Kauai's pesticide/GMO regulatory
bill, which is on hold pending a court review. The Board's comments were succinct, and primarily addressed the bill's impact on small
farmers, as opposed to the chem/seed companies:

Pesticide buffer zones will make tracks
(sic) of land uneconomical for growing purposes;

Establishment of an emergency/medical
hotline will be costly for small farmers to maintain;

The civil fines proposed for the
failure to file annual mandated reports are high and will be costly
for small farmers, should they miss a deadline; and

The ordinance will curtail the economic
viability and future growth of the agricultural industry as well as
create business and economic uncertainty that will lead to less land
investment and planning for future use.

The county has scheduled a public hearing on the rules for Aug. 26. According to Beth Tokioka in the mayor's office:

Once the public hearing is complete and provided that there are no substantial changes to the rules, the OED Director [George Costa] shall fully consider all written and oral submissions respecting the proposed rules. The Director may make his decision at the public hearing or announce then the date when he intends to make his decision. If the Rules are approved by the Director, the Rules will be submitted to the Mayor for his approval as required by HRS 91-3.

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It seems that the SBRRB has said it all. This Board was created to stop government from slaughtering small businesses. Their comments are right on.It is unfathomable that our Council couldn't have sat down with Big Ag and mediated the community concerns. Having Gary or Tim discuss any issues with Big Ag is akin to having Gary recently giving advice on the new super high Property Tax dilemma. He don't pay no taxes and passes a law to raise taxes on others and now wants to be the hero in fixing the situation. Holy Smokes Bogart, light me another reefer, I must be in another ozone. Tax advice from a tax cheat and new tax laws from the man who scores a Jackpot by suing the taxpayer and then raises taxes to cover County costs..Save me Jesus! Of course, Jay, Joann and especially Mason were complicit in Tim's payoff, higher taxes and they all voted against Ag.

Give me a break. Dow, Syngenta, Pioneer, BASF...were not willing to be transparent. That is their MO. Doesn't matter what community they are in. Demonize certain council members but by no means demonize the corporate thugs for what they are.

Good article, Miss Joan.Missouri really can't tell Kauai how to farm. I've been to Missouri, the Farm Dwellings over there are small houses with barns and these tall round Ag buildings, I think they are called silos are something. Missouri farms are also hundreds to thousands of acres in size.On Kauai we have little 5 to 10 acre farms that have big 4,000 sq ft houses with granite and marble build outs and really nicely designed Ag buildings that even have Bynum style rice cookers and kitchens. The Kauai farms have a value of 1 million to 20 million. The price farm values alone show that Kauai knows more about farming than Missouri. Kauai farms must make a lot of money to pay for these multi-million dollar improvements.And how can Missouri put a simple 4 line initiative Cat/Dog question on the ballot? Kauai has shown that a complicated initiative of 18 pages is better. Kauai Ag, the wealthiest and smartest farmers in the world.

Joan - HSUS opposes the right to farm not because of puppy mills, but because of livestock issues. They are a vegan organization. Their conferences only offer vegan lunches. So their role in opposing the right to farm has nothing to do with puppies but everything to do with the humane treatment of chickens, pigs, and cows .... before we kill and eat them.

Article today: "Scientists say a man-made "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico is as big as the state of Connecticut.

The zone, which at about 5,000 square miles (13,000 sq km) is the second largest in the world but still smaller than in previous years, is so named because it contains no oxygen, or too little, at the Gulf floor to support bottom-dwelling fish and shrimp.

The primary cause of the annual phenomenon is excess nutrient runoff from farms along the Mississippi River, which empties into the Gulf, said Gene Turner, a researcher at Louisiana State University's Coastal Ecology Institute.

The nutrients feed algae growth, which consumes oxygen when it works its way to the Gulf bottom, he said."